Disaster dieters!
Daily Mail, UK
30 June, 2004
One in three slimmers ends up weighing as much as a stone more than they did at the start of their diet, researchers have found.
Another third regain all the pounds they lose within weeks of ending the regime.
Only 18 per cent ever reach their ideal weight - and just over half of them actually manage to maintain it, according to a study by the British Dietetic Association.
It blamed the 'shocking' results on quick-fix diets such as the low-carbohydrate, high-protein Atkins.
The study found that one in four Britons is trying to lose weight at any one time.
'Hugh concern about weight'
Dietician Amanda Wynne said: "The results show there is a huge concern out there about weight, with a huge number of people on diets with very limited success.
"People are going on a lot of fad diets, following them for a short time then going back to their old eating habits and putting all the weight back on and some extra.
"This spiralling of weight is part of the reason for the massive upsurge in obesity."
The survey of 4,000 men and women found a third of slimmers lost weight while on their diet but soon regain it.
Another third actually weigh more than they did when they started.
And one in five of those pile on an extra stone or more.
Unhappiness with weight
Three-quarters of those polled professed an unhappiness with their weight.
With one in four on a diet at any given time, 6 per cent said they had been on more than 15 diets.
One in 20 dieted for more than a year at a time and only 13.4 per cent had never tried to lose weight.
Miss Wynne said the diet industry was getting rich on the nation's obsession with weight.
"There are a lot of people making a lot of money and not a lot of people losing a lot of weight," she added.
The poll questioned slimmers on all sorts of diets, from do-it-yourself regimes which only allow one type of food such as grapefruit or cabbage soup to the structured programmes of Atkins and WeightWatchers and meal replacement drinks.
"There is another diet out every week," Miss Wynne said.
"We really advise people to stay away from fad diets like the cabbage soup diet and low carbohydrate diets.
"We wouldn't recommend the Atkins diet because it is quite restrictive in terms of the foods and nutrients you are getting."
Yo-yo dieters
Yo-yo dieters are also damaging their health as losing then regaining weight can weaken the immune system.
Obesity - which affects 20 per cent of adults and one in ten six-year-olds in the UK - can lead to diabetes, heart disease, cancer and shortened life expectancy.
Miss Wynne said the most successful way to manage weight was to make "small changes that are achievable and sustainable".
"Eat more fruit and vegetables, cut down on portion sizes and take regular exercise," she added. "Eat foods you like and get involved in activities you like."
Sarah Stanner, of the British Nutrition Foundation, said: "I think people are at the end of their tether when it comes to losing weight. They think 'What's the point? Even if I lose it in the short-term, I'll pile it all back on'. It's quite sad."
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The Disaster Dieters
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